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IMALENT is a relatively new manufacturer of flashlights, using a distinctive touch-screen interface (among other features). In this review, I am looking at their EU06 model – featuring a main Cool White XM-L2 emitter for throw, a Neutral white XP-G2 for flood, and a Red (presumably XP-E) for, well, red light.

Like the DD2R and EMT16 that I have previously reviewed, the light is powered by 1x18650 or 2xCR123A/RCR. Let's see how the EU06 compares to other lights in this class.

Manufacturer Reported Specifications:
(note: as always, these are simply what the manufacturer provides – scroll down to see my actual testing results).

Packaging is similar for the recent IMALENT lights, and feature a fairly standard cardboard case with the specs and details printed on it. Inside are the light, spare O-rings, spare display cover, belt holster with Velcro closing flap, product inserts and manual.

The EU06 anodizing is a matte black, and seems to be good quality on my sample. Labels are minimal and bright white, clearly legible against the dark background. There is no real knurling to speak of, but the battery tube does have a checkered pattern with fine concentric rings (i.e., similar to some Fenix lights). Combined with heatsink fins, buttons, ridges, etc., I would say overall grip is good.

As with other IMALENT lights, there is no physical clicky switch – the light is controlled by a pair of electronic switches and touch screen in the head. The touch screen, when activated, displays relevant information about battery status and output levels. See my User Interface section later in this review for an explanation.

The touch screen is pressure-sensitive, not capacitive. So you will need a fair amount of of force, but are not restricted to capacitive objects. Again, see my user interface discussion below.

The electronic switches have a typical traverse and firm "click" – although the metal button covers can move around somewhat (i.e., feel "loose"). The lower switch controls on/off and entering into tint selection mode. The upper switch controls access to the special "blinking" modes, and turning the touch screen on and off. Again, see my detailed comments under User Interface section below.

The tail area allows tailstanding, and has a tripod mount. Note that on my early review sample (as well as my DD4R), the hole is too small for a typical tripod mount (i.e., 1/4-20 UNC). IMALENT assures me that this has been corrected on current shipping versions.

There is no obvious lanyard attachment point. The is a spring at the base of the battery tube, as well as in the head.

One odd observation – the battery tube is remarkably wide internally. You could easily accommodate cells up to ~22mm in width. This is a lot more than your typical 16340 (<17mm) or 18650 cell (~19mm).

Let's take a look at the head and emitters. In addition to the main Cool White throw beam, you also have side-mounted Neutral White and Red flood emitters.

Cool XM-L2 Throw:

There is a lightly-colored bezel ring that holds the lens in. At the base of a relatively deep and smooth reflector is the XM-L2 Cool White emitter, which was well centered on my sample. I would expect reasonably good throw for the class, with a narrower than typical spillbeam (i.e., similar to the DD2R that I reviewed previously).

Neutral XP-G2 Flood:

Not quite sure why they opted with a XP-G2 emitter (instead of XM-L2) for the Neutral White flood emitter, as this means max output will be lower. In any case, it is located behind a frosted optic, so should provide pretty uniform flood.

Red Flood:

I presume that is a XP-E emitter under there (given the apparently smaller die size). Again, the frosted optic means you should expect pretty uniform flood.
Scroll down for some beamshots.

User Interface

IMALENT has a distinctive interface, with the use of a pressure-sensitive touch screen to control output levels (and other features). When you first connect the head, the touch-screen display will illuminate briefly.

Controlling main output beam

Turn the light on by a quick click of the lower electronic switch in the head. Turn the light off by a similar quick click.

When first activating the light, the touch screen panel will illuminate at the same time as the main beam. You can now set your constant output level by sliding or tapping your finger up and down the screen, in the area where the sixteen bars are located. The screen is pressure sensitive, not capacitive (so, a firm touch is needed), and the output levels adjustment can be a bit "jerky". The light sets the output at whatever level you left it when you remove your finger.

Note that although the display shows sixteen bars, there are actually many more discrete levels. While not enough to make the light seem truly continuously-variable in handling, it is enough that you will not be left wanting for levels. The 16-bar indicator is thus only a rough approximation of output (although this is an improvement of the original 6-bar IMALENT interface).

The output continuum of the bar display is not "visually linear", but seems to follow a standard current-linear range of outputs.

There is mode memory for when you turn the light off/on at the electronic switch (i.e., returns to the last level you left it at).

The battery indicator in the center gives an estimate of the battery life remaining.

The touch display will turn itself off if there is no activity at the panel for 30 secs. IMALENT considers this to be a "lockout function", as you cannot accidentally change modes after the display shuts off. To toggle the touch display on or off at any time, simply click (press-release) the upper electronic switch.

You can lock out the light against activation by pressing and holding both electronic switches for >1 sec. The light will flash and be locked out. Press-and-hold both switches again to unlock the light.

Controlling the side emitters

The side emitters are accessed by pressing and holding your finger on the "MODE" label on the touch display for ~0.5 secs. The first press-hold gives you red light. Press and hold again to advance to Neutral White flood. Press-hold again to return to the main white beam.

There is mode memory – so if you turn the light off/on in one of the side emitter modes, it returns to that mode.

Note that all the output level controls on the touchscreen work equally well for the Red, Cool White, and Neutral White emitter options.

Special main beam modes

The Cool White main beam blinky modes are accessed by a press-hold of the upper electronic switch. First mode is Strobe, followed by Beacon and SOS on subsequent press-holds. Press-hold again to return to constant white output. There is no mode memory for the strobe modes. However, the output level control works when in these modes – simply slide your finger over the display to control the relative output of these blinking modes, at any time.

Note that if you are in one of the side-emitter modes when you pretty the upper switch, the light returns to the main Cool White beam. In other words, there are no blinking modes available on the side emitters

Given that this is a revised version of a relatively novel interface, I recommend you check out the video below for a better idea of how it all works in practice.

Video:

For information on the build and user interface, please see my video overview:

As with all my videos, I recommend you have annotations turned on. I commonly update the commentary with additional information or clarifications before publicly releasing the video.

PWM/Strobe

Like the DD2R before it, the EU06 appears to be current-controlled. I saw no sign of PWM in my testing, on any level.

Strobe:

Strobe is a typical fast strobe, of 9.8 Hz in my testing.

Beacon:

Beacon is a quick flash, every 2 secs or so.

SOS:

SOS was a standard SOS mode.

Note that you can control the relative output level of the blinking modes, just as you can for the constant output.

Standby Drain:

Due to the electronic nature of the switch in the head, there is a necessary standby drain when connected to the battery. When first connecting the head (i.e., when the touch screen first activates), I measured this drain as ~10.6mA. Once the screen shuts off, the current drops down to eventually settled at ~32uA (and stays there indefinitely). This is much lower than the original DD2R. For a 3100mAh cell, that would translate into a little over 11 years before the battery was fully drained.

You can always lock out the light electronically to prevent accidental activation, as described above. But a simple twist of the head physically locks out the light (and breaks this current).

Beamshots:

For white-wall beamshots below, all lights are on Max output on an AW protected 18650 battery (2200mAh). Lights are about ~0.75 meter from a white wall (with the camera ~1.25 meters back from the wall).

Let's start with the 3 beams on the EU06, all shown in the same Daylight white balance on my Canon camera. The first one is the main Cool White beam, of course.

I find the Neutral White beam is floodier than the Red beam (i.e., but even distribution).

Now a comparison of the main Cool White beam to other lights (all on an automatic white balance on the camera, to minimize tint differences).

The overall beam pattern of the main cool white beam is virtually identical to the DD2R (although the spill seems a bit less bright on my EU06 sample. The common beam pattern is what you would expect for lights with reflectors of this size – a narrower than typical spillbeam, but with reasonably good center-beam throw.

Scroll down for detailed output and throw measures.

Testing Method:

All my output numbers are relative for my home-made light box setup, as described on my flashlightreviews.ca website. You can directly compare all my relative output values from different reviews - i.e. an output value of "10" in one graph is the same as "10" in another. All runtimes are done under a cooling fan, except for any extended run Lo/Min modes (i.e. >12 hours) which are done without cooling.

Max output of the main Cool White beam on EU06 was a bit variable, depending on the battery source used. Also - as seen with my earlier EMT16 and DD2R - it is difficult to compare exactly, due to fluctuations in initial output on activation (scroll down for runtime graphs). End of the day, I suspect all these 1x18650 lights perform within the same range – and all are lower than the IMALENT output specs.

As with my other IMALENT lights, I believe they are using so-called "emitter lumens" for the main beams - instead of actual, measured, out-the-front lumens (i.e., specs are based on theoretical maximum of the emitter, not taking into account all possible sources of loss in a light). As such, it would be reasonable to knock off ~30-35% from their output specs for approximate output.

Peak intensity throw of the main Cool White beam was again comparable to my DD2R and EMT16 samples (and now fairly consistent with the specs).

Output/Runtime Graphs:

Let's start with a comparison of the max outputs of the three emitter classes. Note that my standard 2200mAh AW Protected 18650 batteries are used in all my runtimes, unless specified otherwise.

The first observation is that like the EMT16 and DD2R, the EU06 has a largely direct-drive like pattern. There was a defined step-down on each of my medium-high level runs. Also as previously noted in my DD2R and EMT16 reviews, the regulation pattern on these lights is a little unusual (i.e., slight zig-zag pattern).

In terms of runtime, there is not a huge difference between the various emitters – although of course max output varies, consistent with emitter class.

Let's see how the EU06 Cool White main beam compares to the DD2R, and the competition.

The EU06 and DD2R appear to have equivalent circuits, with equivalent runtime patterns.

The overall performance of these lights seems reasonable, although they are not as flatly-regulated as other lights in this comparison.

Potential Issues

The regulation pattern shows some small jumps in output over time, although these are not very noticeable in real life.

The range of output levels is significant, but not truly "continuously variable" (i.e., you can still see the discrete steps).

The pressure-sensitive touch screen is not as responsive as modern capacitive smartphones/tablets, but works well once you get used to it. Output level changes can still seem somewhat "jerky" in practice, though.

Interface is more complicated than most lights, due to the dual electronic switches and touch-screen control.

Location of the side emitters may not optimal for how you hold the light.

Due to the electronic nature of the switches and interface, there is always a standby current when batteries are connected to the head. However, this is miniscule, and not a concern. The light can be easily locked out by a twist of the head (or electronically).

Manufacturer specs appear to be "emitter lumens", as opposed to actual out-the-front ANSI FL-1 lumens. Max output is not as high as other recent lights in this category, but still reasonable for the class.

Preliminary Observations

The EU06 has a generally similar (but updated) build to the EMT16 and DD2R - with the addition of two extra side emitters, and the interface tweaks already reported for the SA04.

Overall physical build quality remains decent on the light. I like the lower standby current now – and am very glad to see screw threads are anodized for lock-out (something that was missing on the original DD2R/EMT16). Not sure why the battery tube is so wide, though (i.e., >22mm internal diameter).

IMALENT continues to refine and improve their rather unique touch screen control interface, with nearly continuously-variable output control (for each emitter. I especially like the less cluttered display, and use of 16 bar levels now (as opposed to the 6 bars before). Note however that the actual number of discrete levels remains much larger – it is just easier to tell where you are at a glance now.

Sensitivity of the pressure-touch display is not as high as modern capacitive devices like smartphones/tablets, but still works reasonably well when you get used to it. In principle, this is a rather intuitive interface for a continuously-variable light. And I like the fact that output for all three emitters can be set by the touch screen. You can even adjust the main Cool white blinking modes output levels.

The overall UI is a bit complex though, with two electronic switches and a touch screen for control. It is not particularly intuitive that touching the touch screen MODE label will activate the side emitters (in sequence), and that the upper electronic switch will activate strobe modes. But that's a result of the wide feature range of this light – and you quickly get used to what is required here.

Overall output/runtime efficiency across all output levels is reasonable, and pretty much unchanged from DD2R/EMT16. As before, you get a largely direct-drive-like pattern (with some step down/up effects, depending on the level). Efficiency is not as high as the fully-regulated current-controlled competition, but still decent. Max output is not as high as the specs indicate, though.

Beam patterns for all three emitter classes are what you expect for the design, and quite functional.

At the end of the day, the EU06 is more than just an incremental upgrade to the DD2R (although it is that too). The extra side emitters do enhance the functionality of the light, making it quite versatile for this class.

I have been giving this light some heavy use over the past few months. It is actually pretty useful as a worklight. It is great to tail stand and use the neutral side light. It was great inside a base cabinet for installing a new sink faucet recently.

I have been giving this light some heavy use over the past few months. It is actually pretty useful as a worklight. It is great to tail stand and use the neutral side light. It was great inside a base cabinet for installing a new sink faucet recently.

Thanks. I have been looking at another red light alternative, as long as it can take some knocks. Imalent being relatively new its hard to judge without your comments so it is appreciated.
Would you compare the fit and finish and build to another known manufacturer ?

I now have the emt16 and eu06 UV version,still waiting for the sa04. Anyways gotta give 2 thumbs up so far. The build is very good on both,so now I will get the red LED version to. Really love these touch screen lights.